Finally!

It rained. It actually rained twice this week, some on Tuesday and then again last night. We've been in somewhat of a drought this summer (again) and parts of the county have instituted mandatory water restrictions. I just read this morning that Loudoun County has been given disaster designation because of the crop losses.

Now the weather is finally cooler and hopefully we'll have a wet fall to bring the water table and reservoirs back up to normal levels. The leaves are beginning to turn, although that could be as much from stress as from the weather change. But still, you can tell that Fall is on the way, just by the way the light has changed.

The onset of autumnal weather makes me want to knit even more, if that's possible. I have visions of creating gorgeous, warm Norwegian sweaters and hats and mittens galore. And don't forget about warm, woolen socks, either.

I'm delusional about my knitting output.

A hat or two, maybe a pair of mittens, and one or two pairs of socks might be doable. A Norwegian sweater? Who am I kidding?! I can't seem to finish any type of sweater, be it adult, child, or infant-sized. But still the dream lives on.

Boxy Goodness
Despite the ennui that has pervaded my life this week, there were a couple of bright spots. On Tuesday, I got the first shipment from the Y2Knit ECOnnection club. On Wednesday, another installment of exotic fibers from the Wooly Wonka Fibers exotic fiber club arrived (Pygora goat...soft!)

And yesterday, at long last, Elizabeth Zimmerman's book Knitting Around made an appearance on the front porch. Tom opened the package before I got home and was dismayed to see that it was another knitting book. He doesn't understand why I need yet another knitting book. I tried to explain to him about how EZ was just an amazing knitter and an amazing woman. I shoved a picture of her in his face and exclaimed "Isn't she just the most beautiful woman in the world?" At that point, he looked at me and said "I think you've had a little too much to drink." (I had had a couple of sips of my Friday cocktail.) Oh, well. He waxes poetic about beer and rock climbs; I wax poetic about yarn and EZ. We're both a little crazy, I think.

Knitting Progress
The Clapotis continues to grow and the knitting has not yet lost its charm. I've finished about half of the straight repeats.




I haven't made any progress on the Monkey socks, given that I'm all wrapped up in Clapotis. But the Yarn Harlot is coming to a bookstore near me next Thursday, so it will once again see the light of day.

Living Lightly
I took the ecological footprint quiz againto see what I needed to do to live under the U.S. average (which is 24 acres per person). It turns out that I need to eat vegan, live in a green design residence, drive a hybrid, carpool, walk or bike everywhere, not fly anywhere, and eat 100% local, unpackaged and unprocessed food. That reduced my footprint to 5 acres, which is still more than 4.5 biologically available acres per person that is available now. I'd need 1.1 planets. I found that to be a bit discouraging, although we do have plans to buy a hybrid and our final home will be smaller and most likely be a green design. The next big thing I could do is reduce the number of miles I drive to work, which is going to be very difficult to do. Public transportation is non-existent for intercounty travel and I don't know anyone at work who lives in town.

But small steps are better than no steps. We can reduce the amount of meat we eat (see this article for an interesting discussion about meat consumption and greenhouse gases). We can walk to places in town more frequently than we do. We can replace more light bulbs with fluorescents (although the mercury in them has me a bit worried). Fortunately, we have a pretty good farmers market, so we can get relatively local fruit and vegetables during the summer, as well as beef, pork, and lamb. Here's my haul from this morning:



Eggs, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, apples, celeriac, parsley, and salsa from Chef Eloy. He had one container of XXXtra Hot Salsa, which should be yummy. We usually get the Xtra Hot, which sometimes isn't hot enough. The pumpkins are beginning to come in too.

We're having friends over for dinner tonight and will be serving:

• Shrimp Bisque


• Rockfish Roasted with White Wine, Tomatoes, and Black Olives on Toasted Couscous


• Grilled Eggplant


• Grapefruit Tart wth Chocolate-Pecan Crust

The main course and dessert are from the Inn at Little Washington Cookbook. The recipes in this book are outstanding and are not that difficult to make, although some of them can be time consuming, especially if there's reduction involved.

Well, I've got to go...time to do some cleaning and cooking!

Bon appetit!

Bleh

I've been feeling distinctly bleh and blah these past few days. I lack energy (although I can manage to knock off a couple of rows on the Clapotis each day), motivation, and a general joie de vivre. As a result, I want to hibernate and I'm particularly good at crawling inside my head and contemplating Very Important Issues. The conversation in my head goes something like this.

Me: Look at the mountains and how the mist is wafting down them. It's so pretty and peaceful.

Me: Uh oh...are those survey stakes in that field over there?

Me: Yes, those are definitely survey stakes. They're probably going to putting in a housing development where ordinary people can't afford to buy the houses.

Me: And you know what that means. After the houses come, they're going to be putting in strips malls and town centers and totally destroying the habitat. Where will all the animals and birds go? They'll lose their homes and feeding grounds.

Me: You know they'll put in a golf course, too. All those pesticides and such to keep the greens green are going to leach into the ground water and contaminate the wells. We'll see a rise in cancer and birth defects...

And so it continues. I can really work myself into a state thinking about Very Important Issues. However, I think that we live pretty lightly. We compost, buy local when we can, recycle religiously, and don't go shopping for the sake of going shopping. So imagine my surprise when I took this quiz to calculate my ecological footprint and discovered that my ecological footprint is larger than the average in the U.S.

Take the quiz; you'll be surprised at the results.

On the bright side, my favorite NSLYS (not so local yarn shop) started the ECOnnection, designed to introduce people to eco-friendly and sustainable products in the yarn industry. The first package came today and it contained a small ball of O-Wool Balance, a blend of 50% organic wool and 50% organic cotton. It feels very nice--soft but with body. It will be interesting to see how it knits up.

All for now...it's bedtime!

Lazy Weekend

Yesterday was a day of unsurpassed slothdom. After finishing yesterday's post, I went to the farmers market and stocked up on vegetables for the week. Tom came home from a long run shortly thereafter and we spent the rest of afternoon watching television (cooking shows only, mind you) while I knit. I think the last time I spent a whole afternoon watching TV was back in the late 80s, when I watched all of Brideshead Revisted. A friend was having a small, casual dinner party last night, which meant no cooking dinner. We didn't get home until after 11:00 (which is also pretty much unprecedented, given that we're usually in bed by 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest).

Today is almost more of the same. After a club run at Morven Park and the usual coffee klatch afterwards, Tom is now watching Children of Men. I'll be writing up notes for a knitting class I'm teaching tonight (the women will knit; the men will watch football). Because it's a football night, Tammy is having a potluck dinner, which means no cooking tonight either.

There are things I should do today. Like laundry, so we've got clean underwear for the week. Or grocery shopping, so we'll have things to cook. But I'm not going to. Emma is napping and I do believe she is sending out sleep waves.

I might just go take me a nap.

Lean Horse Recap

Warning! Long, detailed (potentially boring), and somewhat picture-heavy post ahead!

Last weekend (and the week) turned out to have less blogging time than I thought. A couple of runs and two days of housecleaning, plus friends visiting from Baltimore (hence the housecleaning) conspired against me. It was a great weekend, despite the housecleaning.

Here's a South Dakota recap. We arrived in Rapid City (after a lengthy delay in Chicago), picked up the car, then headed out to Custer State Park to find our campsite. It took longer than we thought, because of the twisty roads on the Needles Highway. The views, however, were worth it:



We finally arrived at Sylvan Lake Campground and found our site (#13). After we set up the tent, Tom inflated the air mattresses (no more sleeping on tiny backkpacking sleeping pads!). I put the first mattress in the tent and quickly realized that we had made a major logistical error. We didn't check to see if both mattresses would fit inside the tent (they didn't). After trying various things to try to get both mattresses in the tent and close the tent door, we gave up in defeat and headed into Custer to try to find a place for dinner. We met up with Mike and had dinner at the Sage Creek Grille, which had excellent food and service. Then we bagged the camping idea (at least for the first night) and checked in at the Rock Crest Lodge. The rooms were funky but clean and relatively comfortable. It was definitely more comfortable than sleeping in a tent with the door open and all manner of bugs and critters coming to visit!

The next morning, after eating a huge breakfast at the Cattleman Steakhouse and Fish Market, we headed back up to Custer State Park to do some hiking and to further think about our little camping dilemma. Our first stop was the Eye of the Needle formation:



There were rocks there, so we just had to play. What's this?



Hmmm...it's my husband in climbing mode!



We also hiked the Cathedral Spires Trail, which made us realize that the elevation in South Dakota is much higher than it is in Virginia. The hike was beautiful and we saw a mule deer which didn't seem to be at all phased by hikers. After the hike, we had lunch at the Sylvan Lake Lodge, which was a bit of a disappointment. We headed back to the campground and debated once again whether we should stay or go. Given that there was a very good chance of rain in the evening, we decided to pack it up. This was a big disappointment because the air was so fresh and scented with pine and the wind moving through the branches was soothing. Oh, well...that's what we get for not testing our equipment before leaving. Farewell, sweet site...we hardly knew ye.



Thursday dawned cool and rainy. The rest of our running friends arrived Wednesday and we met them for breakfast, except that it was a non-breakfast. Mini-muffins and overcooked hard-boiled eggs. Phil and Marcia headed off to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mike headed out to look for some land, and we opted to hike part of the Mickelson Trail. The scenery leaving Custer wasn't so pretty, but about a mile out of town, the vistas changed dramatically. Imagine having this in (or as) your backyard:



Or these fine critters for neighbors:



We hiked five miles south, a little ways past The Mountain trailhead, to get a view of the Crazy Horse Memorial:



Then, because it was cold and windy (and Tom was wearing shorts and a t-shirts), we headed back. The Sage Creek Grille serves up a lunch that is just as good a dinner and alas, I overate. This was not a wise thing to do, because our evening activity was the much-vaunted Chuckwagon, complete with cowboy hats and bandanas!

The Chuckwagon starts at Bluebell Lodge. After getting our cowboys hats and bandanas, they herded loaded us into the wagons and off we went into the hills.



We went by way of the Wildlife Route, so we saw prairie dogs, flocks of wild turkeys,



buffalo,



as well as pronghorn antelope and deer. We were entertained in grand style, singing all sorts of old-timey songs, with each person having the chance to accompany the performer with tambourine or coconuts. Even though it was a bit campy, it was a lot of fun. The food was good and even though my steak was closer to medium well than medium rare, it was surprisingly tender. After dinner, to get our blood moving and warm up our bodies (it was cold!), the organizers herded us all outside to particpate in a circle dance. Yet another chance for me to embarrass myself...

Mike and Phil saw that this would be an opportunity for blackmail pictures so they quickly exited the circle and whipped out their cameras. Tom wasn't so quick, so they've got pictures of him doing the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance. I must admit that it was a lot of fun being silly. I should do it more often.

The drive back to Custer that evening was exciting. There are lots of deer in South Dakota and like the deer back east, they like to randomly dash across the road. One randomly dashed into our car, breaking the passenger side view mirror and putting two small dents in the side. We don't know what happened to the deer. A few minutes later, Mike narrowly missed colliding with a deer. After my run-in with a deer last summer, in which my car was almost totaled (the deer definitely was totaled), I'm very wary about driving at night in deer territory. It's almost to the point where I want to say "Sorry, can't go out at night. The deer are out."

On Friday we packed up and headed down to Hot Springs, picked up the race packet, and attended the race briefing. We made a run to the grocery store to get some last minute race items. I made a bee-line to the vegetable section and pounced on a bag of carrots and a bag of sugar snaps, I was definitely craving veggies after almost a week of eating nothing but meat and potatoes. Later that evening we attended the pre-race dinner at the Flatiron and pigged out dined on buffalo burgers, spaghetti, lasagna, soup, and cookies. A good time was had by all,



including our intrepid crew:



Then it was off to bed, since the race started at some ungodly early hour.

Race day dawned dark, chilly, and foggy. Fortunately, the start (and finish) line was right next door to our hotel. After roll-call, the runners lined up



and off they went!



Throughout the day they ran, and ran, and ran some more. They ran through prairie:



They ran on the Mickelson Trail:



They ran into the wee hours:



And into the dawn:



Of the five Loudoun Road Runners who ran, three finished. There was a 50K finisher (7:25:00):



A 50-mile finisher (10:46:00):



And a 100-mile finisher (25:02:00):



The winner of the 50-mile race completed the run in under 7 hours and the winner of the 100-mile run finished in 17 hours and change. Congratulations to all the runners!

The rest of Sunday was sort of anti-climactic. To spice things up a bit, we visited Wind Cave and took the Fairgrounds Cave tour. Wind Cave is known for the prevalence of boxwork formations. The cave is beautiful and if you ever visit the Black Hills region of South Dakota, you should put Wind Cave on your must-see list.

So, there you have it. I hope the wait (and the reading) was worth it. We had a great time in South Dakota. I'd like to go back and do more exploring. But next time, I'll be sure to bring some vegetables.

Patience, My Friends

Well, the Lean Horse trip report is taking a lot longer to craft than I thought, mostly because I'm long-winded. So, to distract you from the current lack of content, here is a picture of the Monkey sock:



I'm not knitting on that any more, having fallen totally in love with Clapotis:



I love the Brooks Farm Duet. It's a little fuzzy and the drop stitches don't drop as easily as I'd like. The mohair fuzz flies off and tickles my nose, but this shawl is going to be so warm and cozy! It's going to be perfect for the chilly office.

That's all for now. I'll wrap up the trip report this weekend (I promise!)

Happy Friday!

Quick Update

This post will be quick, dashed off before I get ready for work. The trip was great--there was a variety of weather (ranging from distinctly autumnal to broiling hot), lots of interesting things to do, plenty of knitting (I love Clapotis and Monkey!), and a great ultra marathon. I even met a knitter in the wild!

Ultra
Tom finished the 50-mile distance in 10:46:00, 16 minutes off his JFK 50 time. He was disappointed (he wanted to beat his JFK time) but the first and last 16 miles were very hilly. Add to that an elevation significantly above the 400 feet here and the heat. I think he did really well. Marcia completed her first 50K race in 7:25:00. Out of the running club's three 100-mile contenders, only Diane finished, completing the distance in 25:02:00. Phil decided to drop just after mile 50; Mike made it to about mile 60, but decided to drop because of extreme nausea.

After Tom finished, he swore that he'd never, ever run 100 miles. However, he's now looking for his next 50-mile and 100K race and is starting to contemplate running the 100-mile. I think the 100-milers inspired him.

Knitting
Lots of knitting was accomplished. I finished four repeats on the Monkey socks before deciding that I might not be able to get them on my feet. I started the second sock on larger needles, so we'll see how that goes. However, I don't like the way the colors are arranging themselves. On the smaller needles, the colors striped nicely. On the larger needles, the colors are pooling, so one half the sock will be one color and the other half another color.

Clapotis is a great knit. Easy enough to memorize, but with enough stuff going on to keep it interesting. I finished the increase rows and one repeat of the straight rows. The Brooks Farm Duet is a dream to knit...so soft and smooth. I'm using Addi Turbos, but the yarn would work well on bamboo; it's slippery enough to easily slide off the needles.

South Dakota
South Dakota is gorgeous. I was very impressed with how friendly everyone was. Even teenagers on skateboards (known around here for being churlish and rude) said "hi" as they careened past. We need to make another trip and explore more. Depending on what winters are like, this state might be high on the list for our next move. The only drawback is the lack of yarn shops (but that could an opportunity for my own shop) and the lack of vegetables, at least served in restaurants. The restaurants we went to were heavy on beef and potatoes. By the time Friday rolled around, I was craving fresh vegetables.

Okay, I'm running out of time. Once again, not as quick a post as I intended. Full details and pictures to follow this weekend.

Happy knitting!

Behold!

Another finished object, hot off the needles!


Specs:
Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta Sock Yarn, color 6
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock
Needles: 2.0mm DPNs
Gauge: 10 spi

Sockotta is a nice yarn with which to knit, even in hot and humid weather, despite its cotton content. This was my first time using Wendy's toe-up pattern, which I found to be clearly written and easy to follow. The socks fit fairly well, although it's clear that I need to play around a little bit with sizing. I think slightly fewer stitches would improve the fit (I sort of winged the stitch count, based on Wendy's gauge of 8 spi versus my 10 spi)(actually doing the math would be nice...duh). I also need to tweak the heel width and length. I ended up with these little ears which suggests that the heel is either too wide or the foot too long. I used EZ's sewn-cast off which creates a nice stretchy cuff. Unfortunately, I neglected to see her admonition of "not advisable for ribbing." Oh, well...we'll just have see how it holds up in the wearing. All in all, this pair of socks was an easy comforting knit, with the short row toe and heel providing a touch of challenge.

And speaking of short row toes and heels, there are at least two methods: the wrap method and the YO method. I've tried both and I found that the wrap method was easier for me to master. The YO method produced less than stellar results, often leaving huge gaps in the side of the heel. I highly recommend test driving both methods (using worsted-weight yarn) before attempting either on a sock. For the wrap method, here are a few tips that will improve your odds of creating a nice toe or heel:

• Sit in a place where there are no distractions when you first attempt either method; you will need to pay close attention to the counting


• Wrap loosely to better see the wraps when picking them up later


• Do slip-wrap-slip-turn instead of slip-wrap-turn-slip to lessen the chance that you knit or purl the stitch you just wrapped

After you get the hang of it, it's easier than you would have ever thought. Now, go forth bravely and knit using short rows!

South Dakota, Here We Come!
In just a few short days, we head out to South Dakota and a vague sort of panic is setting in. I can't decide on a sock project. After actually reading the patterns for what I thought were the top contenders, I scratched them all because they all incorporated cables as a design element. I suspect that those patterns are best reserved for the privacy of my own home and quick access to the Internet in case I break yet another 2.0mm needle (the Brittanys are getting a little bendy and it's just a matter of time).

So what to do? I'm considering doing what any self-respecting knitter would do and probably will sort of design my own. Of course, that means I'm under considerable pressure to find a stitch pattern I like for the yarn I've chosen, of which Tofutsies is a top contender:



I'm leaning towards the pink. Opinions? Does anyone have a favorite pattern for Tofutsies yarn?

The other project, by unanimous vote, is the Clapotis shawl, by Kate Gilbert. I think one of the reasons I want to knit this is because it feels so French and if I feel French, then (using my questionable twisted logic) I'll grow a couple of inches, lose several pounds, sport high cheekbones, and have lovely thick, shiny, swingy hair. Right?

Today's activities will involve cleaning, laundry, and frantic swatching to make sure that I take the correct tools for my projects. There aren't many yarn shops where we're going to be and I think I'd be hard-pressed to convince Tom to make an emergency side trip to a yarn shop 50 to 100 miles away!

I provide full details when I return. In the meantime, have a great week and happy knitting!

Almost All Local

I can't say that I consciously planned it that way, but the majority of my Julia dinner on Sunday was almost all local. Here's the menu:

Canapes with a mushroom fondue au Gruyere
Poulet Poele a l'Estragon (casserole-roasted chicken with tarragon)
Concombres au Beurre (baked cucumbers)
Gratin Dauphinois (scalloped potatoes)
Salade Verte (green salad)
Clafouti aux Myrtilles (blueberry "flan")

The chicken, tarragon, cucumbers, blueberries, and salad tomatoes were local. Unfortunately, the potatoes, milk, cheese, flour, bread, and mushrooms were not. But still, the main ingredients were local. Every little bit helps!

I started cooking around 12:30 on Sunday, about 30 minutes behind schedule. I prepared the "order of battle" (a phrase the Julia is fond of using and one that I find amusing), working backwards from serving time (7:30) to determine when the various dishes needed to be in the ovens and working back from that, when I could start prepping them. Despite a late start, everything went as planned. I even had time to clean up as I went (anyone who has watched me cook a multi-dish meal knows that the kitchen tends to look like a war zone when I'm done). In fact, the meal was ready a little early, which was surprising. The last minute preparation for the chicken (carving and sauce preparation) did leave the kitchen looking like it had exploded, but that's okay.

And how was the food? Well, given that I tend towards flavorful ethnic cuisines (Indian, Thai, Mexican), I thought the dishes were a bit on the bland side. However, the canapes and cucumbers met with rave reviews. The chicken was a bit dry, despite being baked in a casserole. Since it was a free-range chicken, it was more lean than the grocery store variety and I think I overcooked it (the meat had drawn away from the leg bones). The sauce wasn't as thick as I would have liked it to be, but it was very good. And the clafouti was excellent. It's not like a Mexican flan, which is essentially an egg custard. The clafouti is more like a pancake batter that bakes into a thick cake which lacks the crumb of a traditional cake.

To continue on with the Julia theme, I made Potage Parmentier for dinner last night. That would be potato and leek soup. It was tasty, but much thinner than I was expecting; we tend to make our soups thick. It's very easy to make...just take water, sliced leeks, chopped potatoes, and salt, and simmer them until everything is tender. Pass through a food mill or mash with a fork, add a little bit of cream or butter and serve.

So, that's my Julia experience. Time-consuming, tasty, and possibly worth the time. I'm going to have to work on refining my execution of the recipes.

Knitting Progress
The Simple Stockinette sock is coming right along and I've got about an inch and a half before starting the cuff. See?



I predict I'll have another FO by week's end. Yippee! Of course, that leaves me with a little bit of a problem. What do I knit next? I need your help, especially since this project is going to be a travel project (we're headed to South Dakota next week for the Lean Horse Ultramarathon). Therefore, the project must be relatively simple, but engaging, and portable. Your choices are:

• Clapotis, using Brooks Farm Duet:



• The latest Rockin' Sock Club offering, using Firebird:



• The Flip-Flop dress from the Summer issue of Knitters, using this:



• The Shingle Creek Trail socks (from Wooly Wonka Fibers in this:

Come to think of it, maybe I should take two projects, a sock for the plane and something else for other knitting. Heaven forbid that I get bored knitting just one project!

I'll post the results of your votes this weekend.

Scorchin'

The heat this week has been unbelievable. The temperature on the deck (in the shade, mind you) on Wednesday was 102F (38C). Bleh. And, of course, the office was frigid. Even though 71F doesn't sound cold, it is, especially when sitting under the A/C vents and dressed for hot summer weather. There was even a man in the office wearing a light fall jacket! You know that something's wrong when a man wears an outdoor jacket indoors in the summertime. Fortunately, the weather has cooled somewhat this weekend, but the temperatures are expected to climb by mid-week. Bleh.

Not much has been happening on the knitting front. I managed to get a fair amount knitted on the simple stockinette sock while at the doctor's today. I thought I had a 1:30 appointment, but the confirmation call said 11:30, and that's when I showed up. Guess what? My appointment really was at 11:00. The receptionist was having a rather confusing day on Friday. However, the doctor saw me as soon as he was able. Nonetheless, I got a good 90 minutes of knitting in. I'm hoping to have another FO soon.

I came home on Friday to a package in the mail. It was the Bee Shawl kit from Wooly Wonka Fibers (click on New Products). The yarn is gorgeous and the pattern...well, the pattern is intimidating. It does look like it's well-written, though. I'm afraid that I'm going to stash this one for a while, although it was very tempting to wind the skein into a ball and knit a gauge swatch. I resisted the urge and resolved to continue to doggedly knit the simple stockinette stitch sock.

The 25th anniversary of Vogue Knitting also showed up recently and I'm finally getting around to reading it. This magazine isn't my favorite; I find it hard to read (dare I say the print is too small?) and there are a ton of advertisements, which makes it difficult to navigate. Plus, I find that I'll probably knit none of the patterns, ever. There are some good articles and I do learn. Plus, if I want to get into the knitting industry eventually, I need to be aware of what's going on. VK is probably one of the best magazines for that (but I digress). Anyway, this issue is full of pithy comment from folks like Kaffe Fasset, Alice Starmore, and Meg Swanson (the old guard). I particularly liked their discussion of how most hand knitting designers are given short shrift by yarn companies, as well as the effects of copyright violations on designers. The magazine also interviews Debbie Stoller, the Yarn Harlot, Shannon Okey, and Vickie Howell (the new guard).

I had some very insightful and profound comments on both articles, but alas, they have slipped through the sieve that is my brain. Of course, cooking dinner and enjoying a glass or two of wine didn't help matters. Sigh...

Julie/Julia
I'm somewhat obsessed with the Julie/Julia project. I found the original blog and have been reading it religiously. My copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking now resides on the kitchen counter, open to recipes that particularly intrigue me. My first Julia recipe was cassoulet, a couple of years ago. You know that it's going to be involved when Julia has notes on "the order of battle." It turned out well, although I could have fed an army with it.

And tomorrow night, I'll make my second Julia dinner. We'll have a simple roast chicken with tarragon, baked cucumbers, gratin au dauphinois, a simple green salad, and a blueberry clafoutis for dessert. I'll make some little mushroom canapes as hors d'oeuvres. Of course, I've never made any of these recipes before. And we're having a couple of friends over for dinner. I read once that you should never make something for dinner guests that you haven't made before. I always break that rule. No one has gone hungry (or died) yet!

Well, I was going to say something pithy here about the Julie/Julia Project and creativity and cooking and originality and knitting, but sieve brain strikes again. I really need to start jotting these random thoughts down when they occur.

I probably won't post tomorrow, too much cleaning and cooking to be done. I'm about halfway through Harry Potter (I resorted to borrowing a copy from a friend), so my regular blog reading will resume as well. Actually, I've been reading your blogs; I just haven't left comments because I'm feeling a definite lack of profundity. Ah well...

Happy knitting and...

Bon appetit!

Accomplishments

One doesn't often associate vacation with getting a lot of things accomplished, unless it's sightseeing or eating. However, the Simonds Family Beach Week offered the perfect venue for getting things done. Without further ado, here's what I did on my summer vacation:

• Swatched for the stealth project (completed on the drive down)
  
  
• Finished the Blue Danube socks (except for weaving in the ends)



• Almost completed the other half of the Too-Many-Choices top



• Helped my mother-in-law with her knitting


• Read three books, none of which was the final Harry Potter book (Tom is taking a very long time to read it)


• Sat on the beach and managed to get a tan despite wearing SPF 30 and sitting underneath an umbrella the entire time


• Practiced yoga a couple of times


• Did a little bit of stealth spinning and still produced crappy yarn


• Ate and drank way too much


• Turned the heel on the second stockinette sock

All in all, it was a good vacation. The family group was smaller this year. The three nephews weren't there and one sister-in-law had to leave early to go to back to work. The youngest niece brought her boyfriend, which was a trip. He's a nice enough young man. Watching them together brought back memories of what it was like to be sixteen and in "love."

One of the books I read was Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. It was written by a woman who was approaching her 30th birthday and decided to cook all 524 recipes (except variations) in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. I was so inspired that I pulled out my copy to leaf through as my bedtime reading last night, trying to find something to make for dinner tonight. (Although after stepping on the scale this morning, I quickly nixed that idea. I did more damage than I thought.) While I don't want to cook all of the recipes in the book in one year (brains, sweetbreads, kidneys...no thank you!), I would like to use the book more than I have.

Knitting Progress
While I can claim success on the Blue Danube socks and relative success with the simple stockinette stitch socks, the other knitting is not going well at all.

The swatch? I didn't get gauge and I don't have the next needle size up.

The Too-Many-Choices top? Even though it looks good, it's an unmitigated disaster. I realized (even though I read the instructions several times) that I started the neck shaping in the wrong place, which could account for the fact that the v-neck was way longer than the round neck. However, what makes it a disaster is that when I knit the second half of the top, I spaced the button holes based on the measurements of the first (wrong) half. Yup, it gets ripped back to the first buttonhole. Sigh.

After I realized the error of my ways, I decided to see if the v-neck on the first half would work out as written. I ripped back to 3.5 inches about the armhole bind-off and started decreasing. The pattern instructs you to decrease until there are 11 16 stitches left (that was another mistake), then knit following the stitch pattern until you are 6.5" about the armhole bind-off. At that point, you can start the should shaping. I was more than 6.5 inches above the bind-off after I completed the decreases (and my row gauge is pretty close). So it's back to the Basket of Unfinished Objects drawing board again. Here's a picture of the stitch detail to distract you from the pain of having to frog almost an entire half of a sweater:



And here's the stitch detail from the Blue Danube socks:



I don't think I'll get much knitting in today. I discovered an infestation of Indian meal moths in the corner cabinet in the kitchen. The suspected source of infestation is the bird seed. Fortunately, the moths don't eat fabric or wool so the stash is safe. However, getting rid of insects was not my idea of how to spend the afternoon.

Happy knitting!

PS: If I don't visit your blog, it's because I suspect that you are reading or have read the final Harry Potter book and that you will talk about the ending. I don't want to know.

Bear Meets Cat

As promised, I present to you a guest blogger, albeit a day late. That's better than being a dollar short, eh? So without further ado, I turn the blog over to Keith (who is, alas, neither blogger nor knitter).

This occurred... in our front yard.

I had spotted the bear in our back yard and went to get the camera. By the time I got back to the rear deck, he was nowhere to be seen. Thinking maybe he had wandered out front, I opened the front door and found him on the front porch.

He did not care for this up close and personal meeting and scooted off the porch. Then he discovered one of our two cats (NoName), who had been sitting on the swing but, seeing the bear, had opted to attempt invisiblity under the swing.

Young Mr. Bear decided to see who was under there, and rather hesitantly tried putting his paw under the swing.





By then, both Barbara and I were on the front porch, and all of this seemed too much for Mr. Bear who decided to beat a hasty retreat.



Keith lives about an hour west of where I live and lives on a mountain. It's not unusual for all manner of wildlife to be found on his property. Last year (or maybe year before last), they would occasionally see a mother bear with two cubs wander through. Keith thinks that this bear is one of cubs. Rumor has it that a bobcat has also been spotted on the mountain. Fortunately, Keith and Barbara (and their cats) have not had an up-close and personal meeting with it.

It's Beachin', Baby!
Today's the day we head down to the beach. The house sitters are all lined up and the supply of cat food has been replenished. All that's left to do is to pack and leave. Tom is out on a 20+ mile run and I've got yoga class in a couple of hours. We'll be getting a late start, in the hopes that we'll miss most of the traffic.

One of the more important tasks is to decide what and how many projects to take. Definitely a sock or two, an unfinished project, maybe a new project, and some spinning. Do you think I'm overpacking?

Happy knitting!

Tag! I'm It!

Fat Chick Crafts tagged me a couple of weeks ago with the Five Thing meme. So, without further ado, here goes.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. BitterSweet


2. Ren Knits


3. left-handed knitting in a world of right-handers


4. Fat Chick Crafts


5. The Knitting Libran

Next, select five people to tag:

1. Anybody who wants to be tagged


2. Anybody who wants to be tagged


3. Anybody who wants to be tagged


4. Anybody who wants to be tagged


5. Anybody who wants to be tagged

(Sorry, I'm not good at tagging)

What were you doing ten years ago?
Let's see. Ten years ago I was a newlywed (one and half years), was in my ninth year at a company that was great (but couldn't move into management no matter how hard I tried), and owned three houses (mine, his, and ours; I don't recommend it). We had had our beloved Jezebel for four months; she was the cat that turned around Tom's opinions of cats. I was driving a old Nissan Sentra station wagon.

What were you doing one year ago?
I was getting used to a new job and learning how to work within the consulting industry. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in Costa Rica in February. We probably did some other stuff that I can't remember. Go check the blog archives!

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Chocolate


2. Fruit


3. Cupcakes


4. Popcorn


5. Potato chips

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
That's hard. If I had to recite them (trust me, you don't want me to sing them!) cold, I'd have to say there aren't any. However, let me put on a CD and I could probably sing along with any songs of these artists:

1. Simon and Garfunkel


2. Steeleye Span


3. Loreena McKennit


4. Blackeye Peas


5. Richard Thompson

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Invest


2. Take care of my parents


3. Help the remaining nieces and nephews get through college


4. Travel


5. Do good works

Five bad habits:

1. Continuing to eat after I'm full


2. Not exercising as much as I should


3. Letting Tom do all the home repairs, bill paying, and yard work


4. Being disorganized


5. Being a packrat

Five things you like doing:

1. Yoga


2. Knitting and spinning


3. Cooking


4. Running


5. Camping and hiking

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Makeup on a daily basis


2. Spike heels


3. Clothes from the 70s (shudder)


4. Polyester


5. A bikini

Five favorite toys:

1. Laptop


2. Yarn and needles


3. Spinning wheel


4. Kitchen gadgets


5. My bicycle (if I ever ride again)

So there you have it. Five things to distract you from the lack of knitting photos. I have made progress on the Blue Danube sock and am currently knitting the heel gussets. However, at least one stitch liberated itself from the needles and the gusset stitch count doesn't match. So I have to figure out what happened and hopefully I won't need to rip back to far.

Tomorrow (if all goes well), there will be a special guest blogger.

Now it's off to play with Ravelry! Ciao!

Oddities

Sometimes you're just going with the flow, minding your own business, when you start noticing how odd life can really be. As I was driving to work sitting in traffic one day this week, I glanced in the rear-view mirror and was startled to see the woman in the car behind me flossing her teeth! Then there was the message left on our answering machine this week:

Hey, I hope I've got the right number. I'm trying to reach Father Tom Simonds. Tom, if this is the right number, it's W---- calling. I didn't know whether your cell phone was working today or not. I just wanted to touch base with you about getting together and doing some shooting tonight. Give me a call whenever you can. If this is the right number, I hope you guys are well. Talk to you later.

My husband thought it was pretty funny that someone was asking a priest to go shooting. It certainly isn't something you'd expect from a man of the cloth.

But the most fascinating thing that I observed one evening was a banana and what appeared to be a bowl of cereal, balanced on the bumper of an SUV. I was entranced by it, particularly since the car was traveling at highway speeds. I followed the vehicle in town; the breakfast items even stayed put through turns.

What's the strangest thing you've noticed?

This weekend promises to be busy and will probably afford little time for knitting. I have to do the usual house chores today, along with some cooking. We've got the running club progressive run dinner this evening and we're one of the stops. I have no idea what we're going make. I'm opting for a chilled soup of melon and cucumber with crispy prosciutto. Tom thinks that's too fancy. I think it's delicious and could care less about fancy. I also want to make a spice cake for the main event afterwards.

Tomorrow we're going up to see my mother-in-law. She's having the garage painted and wants Tom to pressure wash it beforehand. There's a yarn shop in her city, Woolwinders, and I'm hoping to get a chance to visit it. However, it would be poor form to leave Tom to do the pressure washing and immerse myself in wonderful yearn yarn (why do I always type "yearn" for "yarn?"). I don't need more yarn. In the evening we're going to Wolf Trap to see Lucinda Williams, preceded by a picnic on the lawn (which means we have to make something). The last time we went to Wolf Trap was to see the original Nosferatu, with live orchestra. That was before we got married so I'd say that it was about 13 years ago. Far too long!

Knitting and Spinning Progress
I continue to make zero progress on the Rambouillet. I have been making progress on the Blue Danube socks, although there's a fair amount of ripping going on. Apparently, I can't count to either three or five. I lost one of the DPNs, and am forced to knit with four needles. I much prefer five. And since it's been more than a year since I completed the first sock, I'm getting a way different gauge. The first sock leg is looser than what I'm currently knitting. I was hoping these socks would be suitable for a gift, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe the first sock will shrink up some after a nice bath. The yarn is a merino/silk blend, and perhaps the silk is causing it to not bounce back after numerous tryings-on.

In one week, however, there will be plenty of time for knitting and possibly some spindling. We'll be heading down to the Outer Banks for the annual Simonds family beach week. The trip is about six hours and then a whole week of sitting on the beach, with plenty of knitting time in the mornings and evenings. I need to figure out what projects to take. Maybe I'll take a new project, an old project (perhaps the Too-Many-Choices Top, since it's a gift for one of my sisters-in-law), and a sock project. I'll also take the drop spindle and the Batt from Hell and try to perfect my drop spinning.

Happy knitting!

Wooly Wonka Goodness

Oh joy! The second installment from the Wooly Wonka Exotic Fibers Club arrived yesterday. The selected fiber is Cormo. It's very, very nice.



I'm once again afraid my spinning skills (or lack thereof) will not be able to do this wonderfully fluffy fiber justice. And I'm definitely afraid that they won't be able to justice to this:



Yes, it's another ball of white fluffy stuff. But it's a blend of 80% Cormo and 20% angora rabbit. Talk about lucsious! The Cormo is wonderful, but just a wee bit of angora takes it from wonderful to sublime. I nearly swooned when I touched it.

Thanks, Anne!

Progress
On the knitting front, very little. I knit a few rounds on the simple stockinette sock when I found myself waiting for the tool rental guy to get back from lunch. On the spinning front, none. The Rambouillet is exactly where I left it several weeks ago.

Tom is making wonderful progress on the back bedroom. He rented a flat sander (as opposed to a drum sander) from the aforementioned tool rental place and should finish sanding the floor in the back bedroom this afternoon. As usual, he is doing an excellent job. The floor is going to look almost like new when he's done. Then all that's left to do is prime, paint the walls, paint the trim, install crown molding, come up with some sort of closet system et voila, the room is finished! Three down, one to go. At least for the bedrooms. We still have the dining room plaster to restore and the library, although we aren't too sure what to do with that one. The walls are covered with dark paneling so we don't have a clue as to how sound the plaster underneath is. The room is long and narrow, with two windows on the outside wall and pocket doors leading to the front room. That makes it difficult to place the television. We might end up (in several years, mind you; prices have to come down first) getting a flat panel TV; they take up much less space than the traditional TV.

The dishwasher gave up the ghost again and this time turning the breaker off and on didn't fix it. That means doing dishes by hand so it's time to get creative with food that doesn't take a lot of utensils (I'm famous for using every pot, bowl, and spoon in the house when I cook). The stove is also on the fritz; its electronics didn't fare well with all the power flickering that happened earlier this week. Fortunately, the gas bit still works, but the clock, timer, and oven don't. Sigh...

Emma doesn't care; she just wants a comfy place to take a nap.

SSS Abated

In my last post, I confirmed that I have a raging case of startitis as well as accepted that I suffer somewhat from Second Sock Syndrome (SSS). Have no fear; it's not as serious as it sounds and might even be downright positive. You see, I made an astounding discovery this week.

Startitis is a cure for SSS!

I know that you are skeptical. But think about the symptoms of startits (as documented by the Yarn Harlot in her fine book Stephanie Peal-McPhee Casts Off:

• A general and vague discomfort or ennui with knitting already on the needles


• A keen interest in any knitting that isn't on the needles at the moment

Now consider the general symptoms of SSS:

• Finding the second sock less charming than the first


• Using derogatory adjectives to describe the first sock


• Appearing dazed and refusing to admit that there is a sock, despite being surrounded by hundreds of single socks

It's logical that, given enough time and distance from the first sock, instead of casting on an entirely brand-new project, the second sock of any of the unfinished sock projects would make a great new project to cast on. Given that a sock is a relatively quick project, the patient should be able to get most of the sock done before the urge to start a new project strikes or before the sock once again loses its allure.

At least, that's what I found. Behold!



This is the second Blue Danube sock. The simple stockinette sock had lost its charm; I needed something a little more challenging (but not as challenging as the Sweaters of Despair). I needed something new. This second sock fit the bill perfectly. The Texas contingent might recognize this sock as the one that I was attempting to knit at the blogger meet-up at MDSW in 2006. I was so excited and so intimidated by all the awesome knitters that I messed it up royally and had to frog it later. I started it again, only to have the same thing happen. So the poor sock was relegated to the Basket of Unfinished Projects for more than a year.

The slip stitch pattern this pattern uses is wonderful. It's simple enough to memorize, it's easy to knit (assuming that you can count to five), and it looks amazingly complex. And the yarn is a luscious blend of merino and silk. What more could you ask from your knitting?

Emma says "Flies...I need more flies to catch!"



Happy knitting!

I'm So Good

Going through my somewhat small stash and entering it in Ravelry has been a very good exercise. I met up with my old yarn friends, the ones I met long ago in the yarn store, quickly befriended and brought home to meet the other yarn. They've been enjoying each other, having a stash party, without inviting me. Well, maybe they did invite me and maybe I forgot about it because I was busy making more yarn friends.

The upshot of this is that I really have more yarn than I need, although to be fair, the majority of the yarn was acquired with a specific project in mind. In addition, the suspicion that I have a raging case of startitis was confirmed. As I was pondering what to knit this evening, did my mind turn to any one of the myriad projects already on the needles? Oh,noooo...not at all. I was thinking that I would start swatching for a couple of stealth projects. It's clear that I enjoy the process of thinking about knitting and starting a project rather than taking it to completion.

I'm pleased to report, though, that no matter sweetly the yarn sang to me, I ignored its siren song and closed the yarn bins, thus lessening the din somewhat. I've got three unfinished pairs of socks in front of me on my work table (indicative of second sock syndrome) with another two pairs lurking in the Basket of Unfinished Objects.

So here I sit (with a rather large, flat, dead spider underneath the chair, which is creeping me out quite a bit; it's a good thing I didn't meet it when it was alive because then you'd have to scrape me off the ceiling), blogging instead of knitting. I know that once the yarn starts running through my fingers, I'll be hooked. But then again, maybe I'm simply a knitting wannabe.

(PS: The air conditioning at work was still broken, with the temperature in my office staying in the 80s. However, at the end of the day, it was a mere 80.1 degrees, which means that tomorrow the temperatures will be back in the meatlocker range. I have sweater and socks at the ready.)

Vagaries

You would think that with all of our high-tech gadgetry and engineering knowledge that heating and cooling a building, even a large one, would be reduced to mere child's play. I have yet to work in a building where I'm comfortable both summer and winter. That's held particularly true over the past couple of weeks.

During the last warm spell, part of the floor that I'm on got a little on the toasty side. It wasn't too uncomfortable (for me) but I had the guys called building engineering to cool things off a wee bit. The request was fulfilled and everyone was happy.

Over the next several days, however, the temperature in the building kept dropping. It was pleasant outside and I dressed for the weather, given that we had turned the air conditioning off at home and opened the windows. By the end of the week, I was feeling the need for wool socks, and a scarf and hat at work. So today, I dressed for the office conditions...stockings and shoes, slacks, a turtleneck sleeveless sweater with a cardigan to go over.

As I stepped into the elevator at work, I thought it felt a little warm. It was a warm weekend and the air conditioning is usually turned off during non-working hours, so I didn't worry too much. As I stepped off the elevator on my floor, it became clear that the air conditioning wasn't functioning at peak efficiency. In fact, the air conditioning wasn't functioning at all. The temperature in my office was a tropical 84 degrees. Facilities eventually managed to get the A/C working again and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees. But it never got below 82 all day. By 6:00 this evening, it was up to 85. That does not bode well for tomorrow.

I'm in a quandary about how to dress, although I'm leaning toward a nice cool linen dress with sandals, with a pair of wool socks on the side and maybe a scarf and a fleece jacket. Fingerless gloves would be the icing (no pun intended) on the cake.

Actually, I don't blame the A/C for not working today. It reached 99 degrees in the shade on our deck, so it had to be warmer in the more urban areas. My car thermometer registered 103 on the way home! I think everyone's A/C is working overtime. Just before I started writing this evening, we had several power blips and short brownouts. Hopefully we'll have power overnight; otherwise it's going to be one hot, sticky miserable night. More hot weather is promised for tomorrow and for Wednesday as well. All I can say is thank heaven we aren't out West; it's brutally hot out there.

Break out the Euro Linen and stay cool!

Stash Explosion

Whew! What a weekend! It was productive, but productive with "me" time. I finally got my butt out and ran with the club, which was followed by breakfast at Patrick's house. He competes in triathlons and it turns out that his wife used to be a competitive ski jumper for the US Ski Team and did all those cool aerial tricks. She doesn't compete anymore (one, the weather here is not conducive to it) because her knees and hips are shot.

Yesterday I headed up to Funkstown to Y2Knit for the July 4th (and 4th anniversary) sale. Was I good? Was there stash enhancement? Only my hairdresser knows for sure! Suffice it to say that Susan has some pretty good deals.

While I was browsing the yarn shop, Tom saw You Kill Me. He thoroughly enjoyed it, even though he had to leave Leesburg to see it. After we both returned, we met Leigh at our favorite watering hole. As it turned out, several running club members also showed up. We had a good time trading stories and sharing wine. At the end of the evening, Jerry (the bartender) gave Leigh and I blueberry martinis, fortunately small ones. They were quite tasty, but it put me over the edge. I woke this morning feeling less than stellar. So I took the opportunity to work on...

Ravelry
I started entering my stash last weekend. Or was it the weekend before that? Regardless, my fiber room looked like it suffered an explosion:





It was getting to be a rather annoying, stumbling over the piles of yarn. During the endeavor, I learned that Emma has developed a liking for wool and wool/silk blends. I'd leave the room and when I returned, some of the yarn had mysteriously moved to the floor. The first time it happened, I assumed that I had unknowingly knocked the yarn off the table. But no...it was Emma. She'd jump on the table, pick out particularly nice skein of yarn, and carry it off (just now she chose the Adrienne Vittadini Martina over the Provence cotton). At least she has good taste.

But finally, after working in Ravelry all day, all the stash is entered. The bonus is that the stash is organized. I've got the yarns slated for shawls and socks in one bin and all the other yarns in the other bin, further sorted by weight and fiber content. So it should be a lot easier to find what I need. It doesn't hurt that you can enter the location of the yarn in Ravelry, either, particularly if your stash spans several rooms (mine doesn't; it spans two bins).

After I finish getting the room organized again, I'm going to work on finishing spinning the Rambouillet from the Wooly Wonka Fibers Exotic Fibers Club. I think the next shipment comes this month and I'd like to be prepared to start spinning it without having to buy additional bobbins. I also need to start finishing the many UFOs I've got. My idea of not starting a new project until I finish one old project quickly went by the wayside. Sigh...so much knitting and spinning, so little time...

Secret Pal 10
Secret Pal 10 ended at the end of June. My giftee was Toni, over at Fat Chick Crafts. It was a lot of fun to get to know her and see the amazing work that she does. In addition to knitting, she stitches. And I was horribly mean and gave her a CD drop spindle and a wee bit of roving. Bwahahahaha! Despite hiding it deep in the closet, she started spinning and ended up buying a real spindle and roving the very next day. I'm so mean.

My gifter remained very anonymous for the duration. She finally "decloaked" last week. Her name is Suzanne and you can find her over at My Overstuffed Room. Unfortunately, the last package never arrived. I hope she's able to track it down. I thoroughly enjoyed this Secret Pal exchange.

Have a great week!